A different way of seeing things
by Ramadiii
Summary: Everybody knows about Aaron Abbot aka 'The Prick'. But how well do they really know him? Maybe there is a different way to look at him...
1. Blue eyes

**A different way of seeing things - Part one**

**Author's note: So guys! First Covenant-fic, I hope you like it! I admit Aaron Abbot isn't exactly my favorite character (I'm more of a Reid and Pogue-girl) but I always enjoy seeing new sides of people. Also wrote this because there aren't a lot of Abbot-centered fics, and let's just admit it: Kyle Schmid is REALLY hot!**  
><strong>So enjoy this one-shot and let me know if you want a continuation ;)<br>PS. Pics are at my profile so be sure to check them out!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Reid POV<strong>

What the hell?

Aaron 'the Prick' Abbot was smiling... At a girl! Reid just couldn't believe his eyes.

For some reason, most likely boredom, the blond Son had decided to follow his fellow swimmer out of the school that day. Which was why he was currently sitting in Tyler's Hummer outside of Ipswich Public High School watching the other man walk up to a blonde petite girl with a smile all over his face. And when he pulled said girl into a tight embrace Reid felt his jaw drop.

Who was this man and what had he done with Aaron Abbot the prick?

**Aaron POV**

Aaron placed a hand on the small of Amanda's back and gently rubbed the skin exposed between her tanktop and jeans shorts.

"Hey, Aaron." She whispered into his chest and the slightly older man felt himself smile wider at the warmth in her voice. Having gone a whole week without seeing her his temper had been somewhat... okay, so it had been really bad, but feeling her in his arms made all his tension and frustration go away.

"You ready?" He asked and watched her wave goodbye to some of her friends as they walked over to his shiny Cadillac Escalade, opening the door for her and getting in himself before driving off to the adventure they had in front of them.

Six hours later Aaron and Amanda pulled up at the small Carson-residence. The girl's curfew was at 9:30 and they still had about ten minutes before Amanda was supposed to be in bed.

Amanda looked out the passenger-seat window and sighed. Aaron looked at her and brought a hand to her cheek, bringing her attention back to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked and inced as close as he could in the car.

"I don't want to leave just yet." She whispered and leaned her blonde head against his strong shoulder. He smelled as good as always and she breathed in his scent in an attempt to to keep it with her.

Aaron kissed her temple softly and played a little with her long blonde hair. In all honesty he didn't want her to go either.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked and Amanda looked at him with her gold flecked blue eyes.

"Nothing, unless you have already planned something for me." Amanda smiled and Aaron felt his heart skip a little at the sight of it.

"I was thinking about asking you out, that is if you don't mind." He felt a little smirk wanting to make its way onto his lips but he tried his best to hold it back. He really liked Amanda and he didn't want to jeopardize anything by getting cocky with her.

"What, like a date?" Well, at least she was thinking along the same lines as him and that was always a good start.

"If you'd like it to be." This time he couldn't help a small smirk to show but the blonde just giggled at the sight of it.  
>"I'd like that."<p>

"So I'll call you?" He wasn't really sure if that was a question or a statement but Amanda smiled nonetheless.  
>"Definitely." She pecked him quickly on the lips, as if she was nervous to hang on to the kiss. "Bye." The wide grin on her face showed Aaron what he had suspected: She really was as innocent as she looked.<p>

"Bye." He smiled back at her and just as she closed the car-door Aaron noticed Amanda's old man standing out on the porch watching them with amused eyes.

"Good evening, Mr Carson." He greeted out the now open car-window, making the older man nod and approach the car after having kissed his daughter's head goodnight as she'd walked inside the house.

"Good evening, Aaron. I see your right on time as usual." Robert Carson looked down at his wrist watch that showed that Amanda's curfew was now in play.

"Well, you know. Curfews are set for a reason." Aaron answered with a smile, making Mr Carson's lips twitch into one as well.

"And a good reason at that."

"Actually, sir. I wanted to ask you something."

"And let me guess, this question has something to do with my one and only angel-like daughter. Am I correct?"  
>Aaron smiled to himself. It was clear where Amanda had gotten her bright head from.<p>

"I was thinking about taking Amanda out tomorrow night. Would that be alright with you?" He had known Mr Carson, the Police Chief of Ipswich, since he was a kid but it wasn't until about a month ago when his daughter moved into town that Aaron actually started feeling a bit nervous around the man.

"You know the rules?" Robert asked the high school-boy, his light brown eyes boring into the young man's.

"No alcohol, no drugs, no sex, get her home before 9.30 or it'll be my ass in the holding cell down at the precinct." Aaron recited the Chief's rules for his daughter with a straight face, his blue eyes lever leaving the older man's.

"Well..." Robert drew out on the word as if wanting to make the young man sweat a little. "She's still just 16 years old but I'll make you a deal. I'll let you guys go out and I'll move the curfew 'til 11, provided that she calls me at least twice under the night and if anything happens to her I'll make sure you'll never be able to pick up a girl again."

The Chief smiled as he spoke the last part but Aaron knew that if something should happen to Amanda the man would have no problem castrating him and making it look like an accident.

"My intention is for us to have a good time together, and if anyone tries to ruin that you might have to arrest me after all." Aaron too had a smile on his face but hearing the seriousness in his voice Robert smiled and backed away from the car.

"Then I don't have a problem with you taking her out. Good night, Aaron and say hi to your parents for me."

"Yes, sir, thank you. Good night." Aaron threw a last look up to Amanda's lit up window and he smiled as he saw the girl sitting in it watching him with those clear blue eyes.

Tomorrow night couldn't come fast enough.

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><p><strong>So what did you guys think? Do you want to see the date? Review and let me know if you do ;)<strong>


	2. The beginning of everything

**A different way of seeing things – The beginning of everything**

**AN: Title says it all ;) Enjoy and thanks for all the great input on the previous chapter!**

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><p>Aaron sighed tiredly as he pulled up at the police station. He was so sick of these weekly visits to the police station to pick up his old man only to have to come back the next week to do it again.<p>

It was obvious that his dad had a drinking problem, no one was denying it, but nothing could get him to seek help for it.

Aaron killed the engine and ran a hand through his hair before taking a deep breath, getting out of the car and heading for the entrance.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't see the petite blonde about to walk through the door and she in turn didn't appear to see him either, resulting in her pushing the door open with such force it smashed Aaron straight in the nose and sent him to the ground.

"Oh my God!" The girl knelt beside him with a shocked face. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you. I was so caught up in texting my friend that I wasn't paying attention."

Aaron wasn't really listening to her rambling, he was more concerned about his nose that hurt like blazes. He touched it and scowled when he saw the blood on his fingers. Nosebleed, the world's most attractive injury ever, sarcasm noted!

"Oh, shit." The girl had too noticed the blood and actually managed to pull him up from the ground and started guiding him into the station.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked, suddenly feeling less annoyed.

"Well, we gotta stop that nosebleed before you ruin that 200 dollar shirt you're wearing." She smiled at him and led him into an empty office that Aaron had never seen before.

"_The girl knows her brands... Even though she's not wearing any."_ Because she sure as hell wasn't.

She was dressed in a pair of loose distressed jeans with a pair of worn fake Converse and on her upperbody she was wearing a simple white T-shirt, looking like the completely normal girl that she was. Yet somehow there was something about her that caught Aaron's attention.

"I'm Aaron." He said and reached her his hand once he had a bunch of tissues blocking the blood's path.

"Amanda." She shook his hand and jumped up on the empty desk watching him with bright blue eyes.

"I haven't seen you around here before." As soon as he said the words he realized how it sounded. Well, I haven't seen you around the police station. Do you come here often? Idiot!

"Well, I just moved here so I'm not surprised you don't recognize me." She dangled her legs a little, making her look more like a child than she probably was.

"Where are you from originally?"

"New York. I used to live there with my mom but she... um, got sick so I had to move in with my dad. Not that I'm complaining though, Ipswich is a nice place." She seemed a little uncomfortable but smiled nonetheless, apparently not wanting to let him catch on to it.

"I suppose." He answered shrugging. "Once you've lived here your whole life it tends to lose a bit of its charm."

"I'll bet." She laughed. It wasn't obnoxious like Kira's or bitchy like that Kate's, it was a real laugh filled with warmth and Aaron realized he hadn't heard one like it in a long time.

"You have a nice laugh." He said and was surprised to see the blonde blush deep red.

"Thank you." She looked at him with those blue eyes and when Aaron looked closer he could see small flakes of gold surrounded by a sea of cobalt.

"Oh! I'm sorry but, um, I gotta go. Homework and all." She smiled an apologetic smile at him and Aaron felt himself smile back at her. Not smirking like he was so used to by now.

"Right, right. I understand." He stood up and removed the tissues from his nose to see that the blood had stopped flowing. "Um, this may be a little pushy but do you think I could have your number? I'd like to see you again."

Why was he feeling nervous? There was no reason to... Was there?

"I have an idea, how about you pick me up after school tomorrow and we'll discuss it over ice-cream?" If he didn't know better he'd say that his heart was experiencing a mechanical failure.

"I think I can do that. Where do you go?"

Amanda jumped down from the desk and headed for the door. Once it was opened she turned her head and winked at him.

"Ipswich Public. See you then, Prince Charming."

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><p><strong>There people! I know it's not much but I hope it satisfies your curiosity about how the two A's met ;)<strong> 


	3. Night at Nicky's

**A different way of seeing things – Night at Nicky's**

Aaron pulled up at the small Carson-residence precisely five minutes to seven, he killed the engine and waited for his date with a heart that was beating slightly faster than usual. 

Inside the house the two men of the household was watching the girl check her make-up one last time in the hallway-mirror before reaching for her leather jacket.

Robert Carson looked down at his trusted partner Grim, the five year old American Pitbull-mix at his side who looked up at him with eyes that asked: _"Are you sure about this, old man?"_

"Dad, will you and Grim stop looking at each other like you're having a conversation? It's kinda freaky." Amanda laughed and straightened out, her jacket in place and the black high-heeled military-like boots on her feet.

"What do you mean it's freaky? Are we freaky, Grimmy?" Robert exclaimed in a baby-voice and looked down at his working-buddy who's expression could have easily been read as _"Well, yeah, a little bit."_

"That's my boy, Grim." Amanda knelt in front of the dog and he happily laid his big head in her hands, knowing that he was going to get kissed like he always was whenever the girl left the house without him. "Take care of the old man for me, will you? You never know what he might do out of worry for my safety."

Grim barked and Amanda took it as a _"Yes, ma'am"_.

"Any last words?" She stood up again and directed the question at her father, seeing him visibly cringe at the sentence.

"Don't do that to me, Amanda. You make it sound like you're never coming back." The older man pouted childishly, earning him a sweet laugh from his daughter.

"Oh, don't worry. As much as I'd love to I don't think Aaron would dare to keep me away from you and Grim for a longer period of time." The shock on her father's face was too much and both Amanda and Grim laughed at him, well Grim actually barked but they all assumed it was a laughter.

"Relax, I'm kidding." She assured and kissed her father's cheek. "He'll have me back by 11, I promise."

"Okay, but tell Aaron I'm still holding him to the other rules. Just to refresh his memory." Robert said and placed a hand on Grim's head, scratching the dog's ear as he spoke.

"What? What rules?" Amanda cocked her head and looked at her father with questioning eyes.

"Nothing, you have a good time sweetie and don't forget to call me." Robert ushered the young girl to the door and Amanda barely managed to grab a hold of her purse before the door was closed behind her.

She looked at the door with confused eyes but soon turned around and walked over to the big car waiting for her on the road.

"Hi, sweetheart." Aaron greeted and kissed her cheek once she had gotten into the seat next to him. "Wow..." He mumbled as he took in her appearance.

Her curly blonde hair was pulled into a loose bun and a pair of black and white wing drop earrings were hanging from her ears. She was dressed in a quilted leather jacket, under it a tight sexy yet sweet light brown top. Her toned legs were covered by a pair of tight jeans leggings and on her feet a pair of high-heeled black boots.

"What?" Amanda blushed at his staring and wondered if her clothes weren't appropriate for where they were heading. Aaron's family was very rich after all and maybe he'd decided to take her to some fancy restaurant...

"You look absolutely amazing, Amanda." If possible the girl blushed even more and it brought a smile to Aaron's lips. It was nice to hang out with someone innocent for once, so unlike the girls at Spenser who all thought they were God's gift to men.

"Well, you look pretty decent yourself I must add." Amanda smiled and bit her bottom lip in an attempt not to grin too wide.

He didn't just look decent. He looked absolutely mouthwatering and the girl felt the butterflies come to life in her stomach when she looked at him.

Most guys that she knew tried too hard to impress a girl on the first date, dressing in something that just wasn't them. That wasn't the case with Aaron Abbot. No, if anything he looked more comfortable than usual dressed in a pair of dark blue loose jeans, a light gray short sleeved tee under a nice black shirt with thin stripes of silver, the sleeves rolled up, and feet covered with a pair of Adidas sneakers.

Altogether simple yet oh so sexy that Amanda had to fight not to stare at him too much.

The ride was fairly silent, but a good relaxed silence. Suddenly Amanda's favorite song 'Two inches of Snow' by Hello Gorgeous came on and she turned up the volume and sang her heart out at her favorite part of the whole song.

"_23 and all out of love_

_Won't take a chance cuz I've been burned_

_Then you came and turned me inside out_

_Now I believe in love, I've never felt like this before_

_It has to count for something, it counts for everything"_

Aaron snuck a few glances at the girl next to him now singing along with the woah's, her voice hitting every note perfectly. She was so beautiful and sometime she acted like she didn't know it. If it hadn't been for her dad being the Chief of Police Aaron was sure the girl would have had a ton of guys wanting to go out with her... But she had chosen him.

He had no idea why but he found himself softening around Amanda for every time he saw her and he was actually kind of ashamed about the way he had treated his past "girlfriends"...

"So, is this it?" Amanda's excited voice woke him from his thoughts and Aaron looked up at the sign that answered her question: Nicky's. He must have had his head in the clouds for a while now if he hadn't even known they'd pulled up.

"Yeah, it is." He tried to smile at her but the thoughts whirling around in his head stopped it halfway.

"Well, then let's go." The girl started opening the door but Aaron leaned over and pulled it shut again, catching Amanda by surprise. "What's wrong, Aaron?" Her gold flecked blue angel-eyes looked at him and he felt a twitch at his heart. How would she react?

"Listen, before we go in there is something you have to know about me." He started and he immediately noticed the girl beside him tensing up.

"What's that?" She asked while screaming at herself: _"Please don't have a girlfriend! Please don't have a girlfriend!"_

Aaron looked into her eyes again and took a deep breath.

"Before I met you I was kind of a..." He searched for the right words but didn't find a good way to explain so he just went with the first thing that popped into his head. "Jerk."

Amanda seemed to relax a little but still kept her gaze locked in his eyes, holding onto the truth in them as if it was her one lifeline.

"I guess 'douche' would describe me better. I wasn't nice to the girls I was with, I would cheat and sometimes even be downright mean to them, saying things to hurt them... Stuff like that." He so badly wanted to take her in his arms and kiss away the confusion that was showing on her face but he stayed completely still, waiting for her to speak.

"Why?" Her voice was low as a whisper but he'd heard her and decided to answer her with the best one he had.

"I guess... It was because I could." His chest hurt at the hurt look in Amanda's eyes and he heard himself sigh deeply before breaking eye-contact, too ashamed to look into those innocent eyes anymore.

"Have you done that since we started... hanging out?" She was about to say 'dated' but to be honest this was their first real date so she changed her wording. The older boy looked up at her with confused eyes.

"No."

"Then we're okay." She took a shaky breath. "I'm not saying that I'm okay with what you've done but I believe that everyone deserves a second chance to do right." Aaron felt the tightness in his chest ease up a bit and when the smaller girl leaned over and kissed his cheek he couldn't help but smile widely.

"Just one question though." He nodded, almost feeling lightheaded out of happiness. "Why did you tell me?"

Okay, he should have seen that coming but it still shocked him a little that she wanted to know.

"Well, I kinda hang out here a lot and so to these people I'm the prick who couldn't treat a girl right even if my life depended on it. There might be some talk about that tonight and I thought you deserved to know why."

Amanda looked at him in silence for a moment or two before grabbing his hand in hers and squeezing it.

"Thank you."

Sitting at one of the tables 30 minutes later with a burger in front of her Amanda understood what he had meant about there being talk. Most of the people in there knew her as the Chief's daughter and they couldn't for the world understand why a girl like her would hang out with a douche-bag like Aaron.

A few of his friends from school had just come over to join them, Bordy and another guy, Amanda thought his name was Ryan or something but she wasn't too sure. She snuck a glance at the clock on the wall and knew it was about time she called her dad before he might do something stupid, like him and Grim coming down here in the squad-car causing a scene. It's not like it hadn't happened before after all.

"Where are you going?" Aaron asked when she started standing up, the two other boys taking in her appearance as she did.

"Just gonna call my dad, he'll probably be climbing the walls by now." She smiled and left the table after having kissed Aaron's cheek, causing the guys to whistle encouragingly at her.

Once outside she regretted not having brought her jacket from the table. It was the middle of August but most of the summer warmth had seemed to escaped Ipswich and her arms were covered in goosebumps as she dialed her home-number.

"Are you hurt?" Her father's worried voice answered and Amanda couldn't help herself but smile at how protective her dad was of her.

"Hi to you too dad, nice to talk you and no, I'm completely fine." She laughed and she could almost hear the Chief of Police relax... Over the phone!

"Okay, well that's good. So where are you?" Amanda bit her lip. She knew that both her and Aaron were underage and thus not really allowed into the bar so she swung and hoped her dad didn't know she was lying.

"At a friend's house. Don't remember his name but he was really nice when he showed us the house." Please don't catch on to the lie!

"Well, that does sounds nice. So are you having a good time?"

"Most definitely." The girl answered with a smile, the night may have still been young but just being with Aaron made her walk on pink clouds, so yes tonight was a good night.

"Good, well call me in a couple of hours again, will you?"

"Yes, Chief. I promise." Amanda sighed. Her dad was such a worrywart but considering all the shit he'd seen during his time on the Force she guessed it was only natural.

"Love you." She heard Grim bark in agreement in the background and laughed.

"I love you too dad, and be sure to give Grim a big smoochy from me."

"Wha... Wait, you can't seriously ask me to..."

"Bye dad!" Amanda hung up mid-sentence, unable to hold in her laughter anymore. It was so easy for her to catch her father off-guard that it was almost ridiculous.

She shivered at the cold and was just placing her phone back into her purse when she heard a voice from behind her.

"You're the Chief's daughter, right?" She turned around and saw a blonde man walking towards her. He was dressed in baggy jeans, long sleeved pullover with rolled up sleeves, fingerless black gloves on his hands and a black beanie on his head. She thought she recognized him but she wasn't sure where from, his parents were probably friends with her dad. Pretty much everyone in this town was.

"Yep, that me. Amanda Carson." She said and reached out her hand to shake his.

"Reid Garwin." He flashed her a smile and she couldn't help but notice that he was pretty attractive although that sweet smile didn't go with those smirking eyes of his. "So I've never seen you around here before." He continued, lighting up a cigarette as he spoke.

"I've never been here before but Aaron wanted to show me where he hangs out with his friends so..." Amanda tried not to frown as the wind made the smoke from the older man's cigarette blow straight in her face, but the boy seemed to notice anyway.

"Does it bother you?" He asked and Amanda hesitated. Well, yes it did but it was a free country after all. He could smoke if he wanted to, right?

"I'm just not used to it, that's all." She answered diplomatically causing the boy to laugh and flick his cancer-stick away.

"There." He said in an amused tone of voice that the girl found a bit confusing. What was there to be amused about? "So you're here with Abbot?" He continued after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, I am." Amanda heard how her reply came out kind of short but there was something about the man's voice when he'd asked the question. Almost like a mixture between amusement, anger and... a challenge.

"You his girlfriend?"

Amanda opened her mouth to answer but stopped when she found herself not knowing what to say. Was she? She had never had a boyfriend before so she didn't know, in fact she had no idea.

"I... I don't know." She stuttered, an embarrassed blush spreading across her face as she turned her eyes to the ground. She felt the other move closer to her, their bodies almost touching.

"So does that mean you're available?" Amanda felt his breath against her neck and it made her shiver, though not in a good way.

She took a step back and turned around to face him, a serious look on her face.

"No. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back inside." She was about to walk away when she heard his voice again.

"You know about Myra then, I suppose." His every word was dripping with amusement and Amanda just couldn't help herself.

"Who's Myra?" She asked, silently cursing herself for giving in so easily.

"Why don't you ask Abbot?" Garwin pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against and once again closed the distance between them, now with that smirk on his lips as well as in his eyes.

Amanda didn't like it but she felt her throat automatically tighten at his words. Aaron had told her that she had been the only one since they met... Had he been lying?

No, she decided. Aaron hadn't lied to her. This blonde wannabe-bad-boy could tell her whatever he wanted. She wouldn't believe it unless it came straight from Aaron himself.

"Look, Blondie." This time Amanda was the one to close the distance between them which seemed to surprise the other a bit. "You obviously have something against Aaron but I'm not gonna be a pawn in your game to get even with him." She was face to face with him, admittedly a few inches separating them but her eyes as cold as the wind blowing through her blonde locks. "So back off."

With that she turned around for the last time and went inside to her... Whatever Aaron was to her.

"Hey, sweetie. I was about to go looking for you." Aaron smiled and placed an arm around her waist but he frowned when he felt her shiver. "Are you okay?"

Amanda looked into his eyes for a second before smiling back at him and pressed herself closer to him.

"Yeah, I'm just cold."

"You sure?" He looked down at her with concerned eyes, if he didn't know any better he would have said he saw a tinge of hurt in those blue eyes of hers as she nodded with another smile.

"Hey, Abbot! Let's play some pool!" Bordy called from the crowd and with a pair of raised eyebrows Aaron looked at Amanda in a questioning manor.

"I'd love to." She grinned and her body tingled when he took her gently by the hand and lead her to the pooltable.

The game begun and Amanda was more than happy to be teamed up with Aaron. They were actually winning when the blonde wannabe-bad-boy grabbed onto Amanda's cue and refused to let it go.

"Let her go, Garwin." Aaron stepped up behind Amanda, a warning tone in his voice and his jaw tense like it always was when he got angry at something.

"Why should I? Consider this payback for Myra." Something in that sentence made Aaron stop in his tracks and if Amanda hadn't seen it for herself she wouldn't have believed the look of shame that washed over the older boy's face.

Again there was this Myra and she was obviously someone of importance because the eyes of blonde boy in front of her looked like liquid fire, like they were the entrance to hell.

"Leave Amanda out of this." Aaron warned, although his voice was no where near as angry as before. It was more hesitant than anything else. "This matter is between you and I."

"She was no matter, Abbot! She was my girlfriend and you stole her from me before throwing her away like trash!" Garwin's voice was high and angry, causing most of the people in the bar to look at them.

Amanda could see three guys on their way to the blonde's side and saw out of the corner of her eye how Bordy and Ryan moved to Aaron's and she knew that this couldn't end happily.

"Look guys, why don't we all just calm down? Nothing good will come from fighting..." Amanda had placed herself between the two older boys but before she could finish her sentence, she was pushed aside by the blonde. She was caught off guard by his action and didn't have the time to react as she crashed into the pooltable, her ribs taking the most of the hit.

She gasped from the pain shooting through her side and before she could really comprehend what had just happened Aaron was by her side. His face was all red and his eyes were furious, but none of that mattered to Amanda. He had come to her, he hadn't attack the other but pushed his anger aside to see if she was okay.

"Oh, I haven't even started on you yet!" Suddenly Aaron was yanked away from her by the blonde and the fight broke out.

Garwin landed one or two hits while Aaron got a few good punches in, Amanda could literally feel the boys anger flowing from them but the pain in her side forced her to stay down on the floor.

Ryan had stayed with her as Bordy and Garwin's posse tried to break the two boys apart.

He talked to her, asking her if she was alright, what hurt and if she needed anything. Amanda's best bet was that he was trying to keep her from fainting and although she happened to be seeing a few black dots circling in front of her eyes she answered his questions the best she could.

She was in pain but she was sure that nothing was broken, if so she really would have fainted like the time when she broke her arm snowboarding.

"Break it up, fellas!" The strong voice of the bartender/owner Nicky was heard and the fighting ceased although the looks between the two boys could easily have killed someone.

"Now get out, before I call the cops." It was first now that Amanda noticed the baseball-bat in the old man's hands and she felt herself throwing a nervous glance at Aaron, hoping that he had seen it as well.

Aaron shrugged off the hands of one of the blonde's friends and came over to his girl, kneeling beside her and bringing his hand to her cheek.

"Are you okay?" His voice was hoarse and his hand was shaking slightly, his eyes were worried and Amanda felt her chest tighten when she saw the blood at the corner of his lip.

"Yeah, Ryan helped me." She tried to hide her wince of pain when the boys helped her to her feet.

"Thanks bro." Aaron brought his hand to the shorter guy's shoulder and Ryan nodded back at him mumbling something about just helping his buddy's girl.

Garwin and his friends were already gone when Amanda, Aaron, Bordy and Ryan reached the parkinglot, good riddance!

They bid the guys goodbye before jumping into Aaron's Escalade, heading back to the Carson-residence.

Aaron glanced at the girl on his right. She had been unusually quiet since the fight and to be quite honest he wasn't so sure that she really was alright.

"Amanda." The girl jumped a little at the sudden break of silence and turned her face to Aaron. "I know there's something on your mind, so why don't you tell me?" There it was again, that firm yet caring voice that she just couldn't deny.

"Who's Myra?" Her voice was shaking a little, still a bit shocked from the fight and from the now subsiding pain in her side.

She knew Aaron well enough to know that when his hand suddenly went to his hair and he started biting his lower lip he was nervous and boy, was he nervous now! His eyes searched, almost desperately, for a place to park the car for their talk. He wanted her to have his full and undivided attention for this conversation even though he was fairly sure that she would never speak to him again once she knew.

He found a small restaurant where he pulled up and killed the engine, turning around to face her properly. Amanda's eyes traveled over his tense face, quickly noting the beginning of a black-eye and something that looked like a pretty bad bruise on his cheekbone.

"I'll tell you, but promise me something." He looked so serious Amanda had to swallow the small lump in her throat before answering.

"What's that?"

"You let me finish before you run out on me."

It was with a furiously beating heart that Amanda nodded, not quite knowing what she was in for.


	4. Tell me the truth, not what I want to he

A different way of seeing things – Chapter 4 - Tell me the truth, not what I want to hear

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**A/N: Hi people! First off I can't tell you how sorry I am for the humongous wait for this update, there has been so much going on in my life that there just hasn't been time to write!**

**Secondly: This is the last chapter of this story, I had planned it from the start and so here it is!**

**Enjoy! **

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"Who is Myra?" Amanda said, trying to look calmer than she felt when Aaron looked at her with sad eyes.

"Myra was Reid's girlfriend in junior high. Back then we weren't as bad as we are now but we weren't exactly friends. One night we were at this party and I decided to have some fun so I started hitting on Myra. One thing led to another and we slept together..." He sighed and turned his head away from her, looking out the window. "What she didn't know was that I was filming the whole thing."

.

He could see Amanda's body tensing in the corner of his eye but what hurt the most were her glossy eyes.

"A few days later I was bored... So I posted it online." He felt a tear slip down his face and discreetly wiped it away. "When she found out she was distraught, Reid broke up with her and her friends dumped her... About a month later she jumped off a cliff."

.

Amanda was crying now, silently but every tear that dropped was a stab at Aaron's heart and she was shivering.

"What I did to her, in a moment of boredom, made her kill herself... That's why Reid hates me so much..."

.

Amanda wanted to say something but she couldn't come up with anything to say. She was so shocked by what she had just heard that she just sat there, staring at him in silence.

She didn't want to leave him but she didn't want to stay either. She felt like she needed to think but at the same time her mind was too frazzled to come up with anything that made sense.

.

"I should take you home. Your dad's probably worried." Aaron low voice suddenly broke the silence, causing her to jump a little in her seat.

"Yeah... Probably." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

.

_*********It's too cold outside for angels to fly*********_

.

.

Robert noticed instantly that something was wrong the moment his daughter walked through the door. She looked like she'd been crying and her body language was not that of a girl back from her first date.

"How did it go?" He asked nonetheless, wanting to hear it from her own lips.

"Fine. Everything was fine." She mumbled, shrugging off her jacket and petting Grimm's head as she was about to head for her room.

"I can tell everything is not fine, Amanda." Robert stood up and walked over to his daughter who stubbornly stared him in the eye.

"It's nothing, just leave it alone."

"It's Aaron isn't it?"

He took her silence as a yes.

"Look, he's a nice kid and all but I really think it's for the best. You not being with him."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" His daughter glared at him.

"His dad isn't the best influence on him and studies show that genetics play a huge part in whether or not children of addicts..."

"So he's destined to be a drunk, is that what you're saying?"

.

Robert said nothing but his silence spoke volumes.

"Just like I'll be a drug addict like mom?!"

"That's not what I said..."

"It's what you implied!" Amanda yelled, her voice breaking along with her father's heart at the sound of it. "You know what, forget about it. I'm going to Aaron's, don't wait up."

"Amanda, please wait..." Robert tried calling but was cut off by the door slamming in his face.

A sigh could be heard from Grimm and he looked at his master as if telling him _"You really screwed up this time, buddy."_

.

.

Amanda was speeding but she didn't care. The tears were running down her face as she desperately tried to clear her head from every bad thought flying around in there. She knew she was probably overreacting to her father's words but her mother was a sore subject and she tended to lash out whenever her dad brought her up.

.

Half an hour later she was standing outside Aaron's house, her heart still beating furiously as she hesitantly knocked on the door.

She never got used to standing on the big porch, attached to the big house with a big yard and a big swimming pool. His house, much like every family's who's kids went to Spenser, was larger than life and it always made Amanda feel so small.

.

The door opened and the kind-looking woman Amanda knew as Aaron's mother smiled surprised at her guest.

"Amanda? I thought Aaron was supposed to drive you home?"

"He did, um..." Amanda didn't know what to say so she went with the truth. "I just really need to talk to him."

"Well, I'm sorry sweetheart but he's not home yet." The older woman said and Amanda felt her heart sink.

"Oh..." She felt the tears surfacing again. "Then I'm sorry I bothered you." She managed to get out and was about to leave when the woman placed a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you come inside and wait for him? I'm sure he'll be home any minute."

.

Amanda nodded and allowed herself to be led into the house by the sweet woman.

"Feel free to wait in his room if you want, I'll call him and ask where he is." Aaron's mother said and with a last motherly smile at the girl she left to find her phone.

.

Walking up the stairs and into Aaron's room the blonde tried to think of anything other than the conversation in the car. She looked at his swimming-trophies, the ones he'd won before the Sons of Ipswitch had grown and caught up with him. She looked at the photos of him and his father fishing when he was a boy, the big unguarded smile on his face as if nothing in the world could hurt him.

Then as he got older dynamic in the photos changed.

In the few pictures that his dad was actually in Aaron seemed to be pulling away from him and soon enough it was just him and his mom left in the pictures.

.

"I don't think Aaron has ever forgiven him."

Amanda jumped, she hadn't heard the older woman enter the room.

"He's still angry?" She asked, feeling just how much their situation related to hers.

"I think he secretly wishes that one day he'll put down the bottle and be a real dad again." The older woman smiled a sad smile as she regarded the photo of Aaron and his dad fishing.

"Yeah, I know that feeling." Amanda mumbled and felt the woman squeeze a comforting hold of her arm.

"I called your dad by the way, I figured he didn't know where you were."

"Thanks." Amanda said, feeling a blush coming on. "How worried was he?"

The older woman laughed.

"He assumed you'd be here but he was worried about you nonetheless."

"Guess I'll have to apologize for that when I get home." The blonde chuckled along with the woman. They both knew the Chief of Police all too well after all.

.

_*********It's too cold outside for angels to fly*********_

.

When Aaron got home about half an hour later he was surprised to see Amanda sitting on his bed, waiting for him.

"I have to say I was expecting your dad." He chuckled humorlessly as he sat down next to her. "I figured you'd never want to see me again after tonight." He said, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.

"I wasn't sure if I would." Amanda admitted silently. "I needed to think."

"And did you?" Aaron looked up from his hands folded on his lap.

"Yeah, I think I did." The blonde looked up to meet his eyes. She looked deep into them and felt her heart twitch at the fear she found in them.

With a small smile Amanda leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.

It was such a little thing but the simple gesture meant the world to Aaron. He let his hand travel to her hair, gently pulling her closer into their first real kiss.

.

.

.

There was still so much they needed to talk about but tonight they had made a decision.

They were worth fighting for.

.

.

.

.

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**A/N: Hello again people! Like previously mentioned I had planned this ending from the start and although it may feel unfinished to some of you this was how I wanted to end it.**

**.**

**I truly hope you have enjoyed it (although I've kept you all waiting for too long) and please drop a comment if you did! :D**


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